The Revenge of Melodex
by Chalk-Stix
Summary: "You know what, Alex? If I knew having a child would be this hard, I wouldn't have even bothered." Alex is an ordinary kid, who gets into trouble more than anyone else. He is full of pride. As he grows up, he picks fight with bigger kids, falls in love, and uncovers long-hidden secrets. However, he always forgets one thing- accidents happen
1. The Day He was Born

**Hey! I gotta say a few things. Firstly, thanks for giving this story a chance! I know it has a crazy name, but you soon find out why. Secondly, this does have my fan characters in. Honestly, I hate stories on here that have people's fan characters in, so I understand if you don't like it. Thirdly, I started writing this a few years back. This means that the first few chapters are REALLY short, but the chapters from, maybe, chapter 8 (?) are much longer. I promise ;)**

**I'll try to update regularly!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. Permission must be asked if you want to use Alex/Melodex, Craft, Harmony, Jem or any other fan character. ;)**

The harsh wind blew outside of the hospital, cold, calm and fresh against the hot hustle and bustle inside. The full moon shone brightly in the night sky, and there were no clouds in sight. Trees shook violently from the strong wind, sending even more leaves down to the autumn coloured ground. The branches tapped the windows and no birds sang.

Inside, a woman on a hospital bed groaned loudly. Her mate was kneeling down beside her, holding her hand. She looked a state; sweat dripping from her forehead and bags under her eyes.

"Ask… her how… much longer… it will…be!" she panted as she saw a nurse come into the wing. She watched as her husband left her bed to go and ask about what she had just told him. She lifted her head as he came back.

"It will be about five minutes until it is time, Harmony." He answered. Harmony let her head drop back into the pillow.

"Thank you… Craft."

Craft looked out of the cubicle to see what was happening outside in the wing. It looked like a doctor was treating a girls broken arm and a nurse was giving a boy some medicine. A mother and father were beaming down onto a pitiful baby crying. Craft couldn't help hoping that his baby would be daughter like theirs. He didn't want a son, because he wouldn't really do much more than sit and play at consoles all day. Harmony would spoil him with them, that's for sure.

Suddenly, he heard a loud groan from behind him. Quickly turning around he rushed back to the bed.

"No! Get the nurse! Get the nurse!" Harmony cried.

Craft raced out of the cubicle to find the nurse they had been told to look for when the baby was coming. Rushing around, he checked all of the cubicles for the lady.

"Come on, come on, come on… Yes!" Quickly he rushed over to her.

"Hey!" He shouted to her. "Hey, my wife's baby is coming!"

"Right, okay. I will be there in a second so get back to her and…"

"But she needs you _right now_!"

"So if you let me do what I should be doing I will be able to get there sooner!" she snapped, hurrying away to do the work. Craft saw how she bit her lip as she was going that she scared for his wife to and knew she needed the help quickly. He may have annoyed her but she still cares for Harmony.

He ran all the way back to his cubicle as fast as he could, not caring about all of the cries of 'Hey!' or 'Stop!'. He needed to see how Harmony was.

Opening the curtain of the cubicle so he could get in, he saw the worst he could. The baby was almost out, and no one had been there to help her! What if it had gone wrong? "How do you feel?" He asked, thoroughly panicked.

"In_ paaaiin_!" she wailed back. "_Where. Is. The nurse_?!"

"She said she was coming!" In anger he started to help

Harmony himself, if no one else was going to do it.

"Okay, breathe in deeply." He told her. "Try to relax while still pushing."

Craft watched as she obeyed and tried to do what he said.

"That's it. Your doing great!" he encouraged, as he saw the baby push out further. "Just carry on as you are doing now."

Just then, the curtains were yanked open, and Craft saw the nurse they were waiting for. For a second she stood there, shocked at the sight of him helping her the way he was, and then quickly set to work.

Craft watched as the baby came out further. He held out his hands to catch it.

"Yes! You did it!" He cried in joy to Harmony. "_You did it_!"

The nurse picked up the baby out of Craft's hands. "We need to find out whether it is a boy or a girl." She said letting Harmony have a last look at it before she took it away.

"Well done." He murmured. She looked up at him gratefully.

"You helped."

Craft immediately felt proud. He had helped to

deliver his own baby!

"But you did the most. You had to suffer for him, a thing I never had to do. You should be proud for that." He looked into her eyes. They were sweet eyes. Full of love. Craft could have stayed like that forever if he wanted. But he couldn't.

Standing up, he said to her: "Stay there." And went to see what gender the baby was. Just as he had opened the curtains of the cubicle, the nurse came in with the newborn.

"So?" Craft asked. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"You are the father of a great son!"

Craft stared at her in disbelief. A son?_ A great son_? That was the _last_ thing he wanted!

"Are you sure?" He asked the nurse hopefully.

"Very. We have never been wrong before. Besides," she added, "He has the strength of a man!"

"Oh, Craft, isn't he beautiful? I think we should call him Alex!" said Harmony.

_No_! Not her too! He couldn't tell her the truth. He just couldn't.

"Yes, Harmony." He answered. "That is a perfect name. And he is going to be the best son a man could hope for."

And Craft just hoped it would be true.


	2. It Begins

A year had gone, and Alex Stilber Stone had grown to the age of 1. His birthday was on the day of Halloween so there were cries of happy children outside. Alex was still too young though, so he had been at home with his mum and dad to give out the sweets. They always have a lot of people come around on that day, and all of them wish Alex a happy birthday and a happy Halloween. But of course Alex doesn't understand yet.

Craft had been a good father to Alex, considering he didn't want a son. Harmony had been a great mother to him altogether, because she thought he was perfect.

Alex now has grown his hair and it looked like an orange mop on his head. His eyes are emerald green and shine like stars. His cute panda ears had grown. But he was always getting into trouble one way or another. He spilt his mother's coffee and burnt himself on his fingers and then was crying for a whole hour while his mother tried to calm him down. He opened the washing machine door while it was on and caused a flood in the kitchen. He even drew on his parents white bed duvet with a black pen. But his mother loves him all the same.

On the day after his birthday, while he was lying in his parent's bedroom messing up his clothes dresser, he heard some shouting going on outside of the bedroom. Crawling towards the door so he could hear it clearly, he heard his mum's voice. It sounded tearful. Straining to hear what they were saying, he pressed his head against the door and peeped through the keyhole. Alex had been locked in there when he had torn down the curtains. He could see his fathers back and a bit of his mother. She had defiantly been crying. Alex knew that.

"He is the worst kid we could have ever had!" He heard his father.

"No he's not!" his mother wailed. "He is a perfect son!"

"Perfect son." His father muttered. "I never even wanted a son! I've always wanted a daughter, not a son! Besides, look at what he did to our duvet and curtains!" He ended with a flamingly angry tone.

"Craft, he's one year old. Alex is just a kid!"

Craft turned around and walked towards the door Alex was at. He could see an expression of anger and disgust on his face. Backing away from the door, Alex watched as the door opened and his father came into the room. He picked Alex up by the back of his top and went back to the landing, not even caring when Alex's head banged on the top of the door. Alex felt tears well up in his eyes from the pain now in his head.

"Look at him!" shouted his father. "Just look at him!"

"Stop it!" Harmony screeched. She reached out for Alex, but Craft just moved him upwards and backwards, causing Alex to bang his head again. This time he actually started to cry. He felt guilty and in pain. It was his fault that this argument was happening.

"Craft, I am serious, just stop it! You have made him bang his head twice and now he is crying! Why would you do that?" She quickly lashed out and caught Craft in the face. While Craft was nursing his bruised face, Harmony quickly grabbed Alex and tried to calm him down.

"Craft, this time you have gone too far. You have not just hurt Alex when he can't help himself, you have hurt me too." Craft was staring and listening to Harmony in silence. "Until you have learned that I am not going to have another baby for a long time, and that you are going to have to put up with Alex like me, do not come anywhere near me!" So she rushed downstairs with Alex still in her arms.

"Oh, Alex." She murmured to him. "I wish you would actually try to be good. I can't help thinking that what just happened was your fault."

Guilt made Alex want to cry again, but he held his tears back. He didn't want to make it worse for her.

As they were heading towards the living room, they heard a voice from behind them.

"If this happens again I will be sending him into adoption!"

His mother froze. She turned around and stared at Craft who was standing at the foot of the stairs. Her grip on Alex tightened as she quietly murmured to Craft.

"If you don't like him, why don't you just leave?" And with Craft staring at her in shock and disbelief, she slowly walked into the living room and shut the door. Harmony laid down Alex on the carpet and sat herself down next to him.

"You know what, Alex?" she asked, starting to lie down. "If I knew having a child would cause this, I would never have even bothered."

And quietly she lay down on the floor beside Alex and slowly, they both drifted off to sleep.


	3. A Death too Soon

Years had gone past. Alex was now 5. He and his father had ended up getting along okay with Harmony helping them. Alex could now say a lot of words, and knew about many different things, and he learnt with Craft helping him. But though them years had given many new fun times and great achievements, it hadn't stopped the worst from happening. True grief had enfolded the whole family and changed the life of Alex and Craft.

Harmony was dead.

She had been told that she had bone cancer, and had taken it really well, but she couldn't hold onto her life.

Craft couldn't shake off his grief. He remembered it too all too clearly…

_Harmony was lying in her bed, struggling to breathe. She was surrounded by her whole family. A nurse had come to her home to help her, but Harmony had just kept on getting worse and worse. Grandma's, aunties and cousins were all crying, granddads, uncles and friends were shaking their heads in grief and trying to comfort their wives and children. Everyone thought it was a devastating way to die. _

_Suddenly, the door to the bedroom was flung open, and Craft burst into the room, holding Alex's hand. Seeing what a state the boy's mother was in, he decided that Alex couldn't know what really happened until he was older. Leaving Alex outside the door, he rushed to his wife's side. He knelt down and took her hand. He felt tears prick his eyes. _

_"__Harmony…" he whispered. "Harmony, no. Not you Harmony!" He ended in a wail._

_"__Shhhh." cooed Harmony. "Be quite, and listen to my voice." _

_She moved her head further towards Craft and whispered to him._

_"__I love you Craft, I really do, and I love Alex too. I love you both with all my heart and I always will. I would do anything to save you if I had to, and though I will be up in heaven I will never forget you." She was really struggling now. "I know you hate Alex, and-"_

_"__Harmony, I-"_

_"__Shhhh. Listen." Craft fell silent and waited for her to speak again._

_"__I know you hate Alex, and I know it will be hard for you, but take care of him." She looked into his eyes. "Please."_

_Craft thought for a moment. He couldn't bear to say no to her and yet how would he manage Alex if he said yes?_

_"__No Harmony. I can't promise anything. But if I find I can't handle him I won't just be cruel. I will send him into adoption where he won't have to be treated horribly like I probably would treat him." He stared at her, trying not to make her upset, and trying to ignore the amount of light that had left her eyes. "I promise I will do the best I can."_

_Harmony looked up at him with gratefulness shining in her eyes brightly against the darkness of what her heart had made. _

_"__Thank you, Craft." She took as deep as a breath as she could manage, and then said her last words: "I love you and Alex and I will forever."_

_Panic gripped Craft. He wasn't ready for her to go yet! There was still so much to say!_

_"__Just because you said that doesn't mean you should give up now! You might be able to survive, even now! No, don't do that!" He grew desperate as he saw her slowly close her eyes. "Just try to hang on! Just keep on drinking! Look! Here is some water! Look! Open your eyes! Please come on! Please!" He saw her, letting herself drop into the depths of her new life with the ones she missed the most in her living life. He realised that his heart died with her._

_Harmony was dead._


	4. Guilt and Adoption

Alex was angry. He was very angry. His mother had left. Alex couldn't find her anywhere in the house and his father didn't seem to care about him much. He keeps on just looking at him while he eats his food, watching, but not helping when Alex dropped a bit on him or had a really messy mouth. Actually, Alex thinks his father is the reason his mother left. Yeah, that's right. That sounds just like what could have happened. And Alex was not going to let his father do anything like that again, never.

While Alex started to plot out his plan to get back at his father, he started to colour in the rest of his mother and father's duvet green. It was a start.

'I could tear down all of the curtains in the house?' Alex thought that sounded good, but he had already done that before when Harmony lived there. He wanted to think of something new.

'I could… I could steal all of his money and hide it somewhere and then he would have to spend all day finding it?' That sounded good. Alex liked that idea. His father was so guilty he deserved that.

Alex stopped colouring in the duvet and then set to work, trying to find all of his father's money as fast as possible. He looked in trouser pockets, coat pockets, draws, piggy banks, on top of counters, in the wardrobe.

After thinking he had found as much as he needed to, he set to work trying to find a place to hide it.

He tried to stuff it in his toy draws, in his wardrobe, in his own piggy bank (which was too small!), in his own tiny purse and in various other places.

'Now I have to go and tell dad what I did!' thought Alex, starting his way slowly down the stairs, holding on to the banister as tightly as possible.

When he was downstairs, Alex searched for his father. He could hear sounds coming from the living room, so he went in there. When he was in the room, he saw his father sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He didn't seem to notice Alex was in the room.

"Dad."

Craft looked up and saw Alex standing in the doorway. He got up from the sofa and walked over to Alex, lifting him up onto the couch.

"Listen, Alex. I-"

"I hid your money."

"You did what?" Craft did not sound happy.

'Good.' Alex thought.

"I hid your money!"

"But…but… why would you do that?"

Alex shook his head in disbelief. He must be really dumb if he didn't know why!

"You made mum go!" He accused.

"But…what are you… I never made her go!"

"What has happened to her then?"

Craft slowly started to shake his head.

"That you must know when you are older."

"Well are you going to have a treasure hunt then?"

Craft looked at Alex in confusion, not knowing what he meant, until suddenly he remembered.

"Where is that money?"

"I'm not telling you."

"You will tell me!"

"Never!"

Craft was really getting angry now. He had a really bad expression on his face.

"Listen up, kiddo. If you don't tell me where my money is something bad is going to happen to you. Now, tell me truthfully. Where is that money?"

"I've forgotten."

Craft threw his hands up in the air, too frustrated to be able to put with Alex any more!

"That's it! I am calling the adoption centre! I can't take you any more! I need you to just leave my life and just stay out of it!"

So he went to the phone, called the adoption centre, and started talking to a lady on the other side. He found it rather embarrassing, having to tell her how bad Alex was. Craft even thought that they might not let him come!

But good for Craft, they weren't too crowded so that they couldn't have another kid. So the next day, Alex had his bags packed and, having found the money, got a taxi all the way there. It was quite a long way, and Craft didn't have a car of his own, so it was the only thing he could do really. He found it hard to let Alex go but he couldn't put up with him any more, especially if he was going to be blamed on and then revenged on for something he never would have even dreamed himself doing. Let Harmony leave because of him? No way would he ever do such a thing like that to her! It was the best thing for both of them for Alex to go to the adoption centre. The best thing, ever.


	5. The First Day of School

Alex had arrived at the adoption centre the day before, and already all of the other children hated him. He had loved getting into trouble and being naughty all the time. So far he had made only one friend because of his terrible behaviour. This one friend was Spark the Llama, and he was quite a weird boy, but he was also very funny. He had welcomed Alex happily, asking if he wanted to be friends. Alex had been honoured because Spark was very popular with all of the children. Of course he said yes, who wouldn't?

Spark was a dark red Llama with amber eyes which had a sparkle of laughter in them even when he was most angry. He had long jet black hair which he liked to let hang in front of his eyes, and he was quite a big science freak too. He wore a black long sleeved top with long grey trousers with strap-like things on the sides of his knees. His jacket was in the same style as his trousers were, with straps on his elbows and the same colour fabric. His shoes were big grey and white boots with straps going down the middle. To finish it off, Spark had a very weird belt on which was only put on him loosely.

With Spark, Alex managed to find plenty of new friends. He made friends with Trilo, a purple squirrel, Diva the leopard, and Dice the bat.

"Hey, Alex! Get ya butt over here now!" There goes Diva, with her usual I-am-so-cool attitude.

Alex sighed. He trotted over to her. She could be funny, but sometimes she was just irritating. She was worse in the classroom though.

"Yes, Diva?"

"Come." Diva dashed away from him, towards the edge of the school gates, where she stood, waiting for him to catch up. Panic flared in his chest.

"Diva! Stop!"

Diva twisted her head around in surprise.

"What?"

Alex looked at the expression on her face and realized that what he was just thinking was not what she had been thinking.

"Oh. Sorry."

"What did you think I was doing?"

"I kind of thought you were going to try and escape out of the school-"

"You what now, you dimwit? Geez I do not know what gets into your head all the time! I like you but to think I would try and literally escape from the school? Now that's not cool, you stupid fool!"

Alex wanted to laugh so badly but forced himself to keep it in. He was used to Diva's explosions like this, she often got into trouble for it. He was used to trouble, so instead of laughing, he started up an argument.

"Well it's just something I thought you would do as you are a person who simply doesn't care about anything, and you're calling me a dimwit, why don't you go home and look in a mirror while you cry about how ugly your face is!"

Diva stared at him in shock, then laughed.

"Oi, I think I'm a bad influence for you! Say, how long have you been so bad, Alex?"

Pride took over him at that moment, and he boasted about it nice and loud so nearly everyone in the playground heard him. "I have been bad ever since I was born, in fact, ever since I was in my mother's own stomach. Obviously because I am simply the best!"

Everyone seemed to stare at him in disgust, but he held his head nice and high to show that he didn't care what they all thought. He loved being the center of attention, and right now he felt as if he was flying high.

Suddenly, a few of the eyes looked behind him. He turned his head to see what they were looking at, and he saw the headmaster looming over him.

"I think you had better come with me, boy!" He grabbed Alex by the hand, and led him inside the school.

"Now, before I see you, I want you to wait outside here, as this is the child waiting room. No talking and no standing up once you have sat in your seat."

Alex sat down on a seat opposite another child in the room.

"Now, in case you don't follow the rules, we have seatbelts on the chairs. Once they have clicked in, they are locked until I make them unlock."

'Geez! How many things to they need to put on these chairs? That's just crazy! He said about having a seatbelt, but I didn't know it would completely lock!' Alex, annoyed, thought about how stupid it was, then realized he hadn't yet seen who was also in the waiting room. He looked up, and stared in shock at the person he saw before him.


	6. Jem the Panther

The girl had long curly pink hair, and black fur that shone even in the dim light of the waiting room. Her eyes were a deep blue fresh from the bottom of the ocean, and they sparkled brightly. She wore a cute magenta top with black straps across both sides of her chest and up to the opposite sides shoulder. Her ¾ length skinny jeans made her look like a rock star princess. Alex couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Hey…" He attempted a conversation. She looked at him, but stayed quiet.

"Don't worry, you can talk, my name is Alex. What's yours?"

She kept her silence.

"Oh come on already! What can they do to you? Slap you hard and throw you in a cellar? I think not!"

The girl glanced up at him again and opened her mouth, then whispered so quietly that Alex could barely hear her:

"My name is Jem the Panther."

Oh, well, that was a start.

"Hey, Jem! Do you live around here or something, or are you new to this place? I have never seen you in school before." Alex wanted to find out as much about her as possible so he could drop a hint that he wanted to be her friend very much. Alex had found that he had this thing to him that anyone would be his friend if he acted that thing out. It had worked with many kinds of people, including Diva, so there was a seriously big chance that it would work on Jem too.

"I am not new. I have been here for many years now, but you wouldn't have seen me because I spend most of my time with this other teacher in lessons, and I go to art club a lot too. I am one of the only ones who go. It is nice, peace and quiet."

It was working! It was working really well! Now to get more serious…

"Say, have you got a boyfriend?"

She looked shocked by the question but answered it anyway.

"Yes, I have a boyfriend. He is not in this school. He will be coming to this school very soon though."

Alex let his disappointment show.

"Oh, that's a shame, seeing as I would treat you better…"

"He treats me better than your mother probably does to you seeing as you are trying to split us up!"

Alex paused. He didn't want to ruin his chance to become friends if he could help it.

"Well I don't have a mother." He responded quietly. He only just heard her mutter under her breath:

"Yeah, she probably left because you were too stupid to cope with."

"Hey, come on, that wasn't called for!"

"No, you're right, I won't call you stupid because calling you stupid is an insult to stupid people!"

"Look, just forget it! I don't care anymore! I've tried to be nice- which is unusual for me! Everything I've said you've just turned into an argument!"

Jem just opened her mouth to say something when her eyes grew wide with fear and she shut it quickly again.

"I don't know what has made you shut up, but I'm a little bit glad it did."

"Would you like to know what made her 'shut up'?"

Alex gasped in shock and turned his head to look behind him. There, he saw the headmaster. He felt the seatbelt being taken off and quickly, he stood up to show a last chance of respect to the teacher.

The teacher chuckled. "Come with me. I was ready to see you anyway."

Alex followed the headmaster into his office, frightened and yet thinking up ways to backchat the teacher. He loved being bad!

The headmaster beckoned for him to sit down and made sure that they were both comfortable. First he asked if Alex was okay, then got down to business.

"Alex. Did you know that I have heard how bad you are?"

Alex gave his head the tiniest of shakes, and the headmaster carried on.

"Ah, yes, well I have heard that you coloured in your father's bed and hid his money, am I correct?"

Alex nodded this time, but let his eyes wonder underneath the table, where he saw a sweet jar.

"So, how bad do you think you are going to be in school, Alex?"

He shrugged his shoulders, slowly, carefully reaching out his arm underneath the table.

"Alex, you do know something right…"

Alex shrugged his shoulders, just about to catch the jar, when suddenly it was whizzed away. Alex glanced up at the headmaster and saw that the jug was in his hand, and he was cheerfully un-wrapping a sweet.

"If you give me a proper answer, you will get a sweet." The headmaster popped it into his mouth, and laughed.

"So tell me, how does it make you feel to know that the day after tomorrow brings three new boys to this school?"

Alex looked up at the headmaster, and said: "I don't care if there are new boys coming and you want me to behave. I don't care if you feel that I'm too bad for this school, and I don't care if you want me gone! All I care about is getting out of here, and I feel sorry for those children who are coming!"

The whole time the headmaster had been laughing, and he carried on laughing for another few seconds more after he had stopped speaking, and after wiping away a few tears from his eyes, he turned to face Alex again, now more serious.

"Remember, Alex, you never know if what you just said there is worthy of the meaning you tried to place upon it, but I certainly know that these three boys may just bring a bit of luck to some of us, because my family always used to say: A bad word said is a bad word back."

As Alex left the room, the headmaster threw him a sweet, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.


	7. The Three New Boys

Alex went to school that morning feeling worried and yet happy. He had had a great breakfast and a long sleep that night, but today, the new boys came. Alex was in the car with all the other (nasty) children who lived at the adoption. There was Manu the Fox, who always picked his nose, Waco the Raccoon, who always spoke with a horrible lisp and Carlo the Leopard (Diva's cousin) who never ever spoke.

It was chaos in the car. It always was. That's another thing that annoyed Alex about the adoption centre. It was always so crowded there, and most of the children there had some kind of stupid problem. Alex thought they should be sent to a kind of special hospital to get treated, not put at a tiny adoption centre.

Alex always got dropped off to school first before everyone else did, to his relief. This meant he didn't have to put up with them for long. He hadn't told Diva that he knew her cousin. He knew it wouldn't be long until she managed to tell someone he was in an adoption centre. That would be a bad thing.

"Okay, Alexa, this is your stop!" The adoption lady, Mrs. Cashe always called him that, and no matter how many times Alex told her to stop, she simply would not, so Alex had now given up hope. It sounded like a girl's name! He said his thanks to her then jumped out of the car onto the pavement outside. The school was just ahead, so Alex only had to walk for about half a minute. He rejoiced that, seeing as some people had to walk for several minutes.

As he neared the school, there was a crowd of people in the playground; all bunched up together in a circle, and nobody was missing out in it. He saw Spark and Trilo at the front, while Diva and Dice were further near the back. Even some of the older boys and girls stopped to have a look, then stayed for longer when they realised what they were looking at. Alex had no idea why they were all there, and eagerly pushed his way through the crowd to see.

There, he saw three huge boys, looking the same age as him, and yet with crazy strength and alibi. They all had quite big muscles and were taller than anyone else their age there. They were the three new boys, and they really were 'new'.

The first one, who stood in front of the other two, was a blue hedgehog with cheerful happiness sparking in each of his emerald eyes. He seemed to have great pride in himself, and his body actions gave a hint that he could be very cocky, and yet very jolly at the same time. He looked fun, and Alex realized he wanted to know more about him.

The second one was a small yellow fox with two tails that spun quite fast because he was so pleased with the attention he was getting. Though he looked shy, there was determination in his bright blue eyes, a tell-tale fact that he was ready to make some good friends. Alex liked this one, but was very inspired by the next one.

The third one was a blood red echidna with spikes at the end of his gloves, giving him a real impressive and intimidating look. His purple eyes were narrowed and his arms were crossed, and he didn't seem to lose his guard even if someone would smile at him. He would just narrow his eyes back, and not break a grin. He seems ready for a fight, and Alex immediately knew that it would take someone truly strong to win against him.

Everyone were looking at them and gaping in wonder at their looks and determination at the huge crowd of people around them. Alex admired them so much that he nearly stepped forward and started to talk to them, but he held himself back. He didn't want to look make himself look like a fool in front of everyone, especially now that there were even more people than when he came.

Heads turned as footsteps could be heard, and it was the headmaster there to welcome them.

"Well, looky here! I see you are already very popular you three boys! Well, I sure hope you have a great time here, and I think you actually are having one already!

"You can make friends today, or just stay as a trio for a while. It's all your choice, but I just hope that people can show you how well they have been taught at this school and that they would love to be your friends!"

Alex suddenly felt cold as the headmaster looked at Alex, smiled and winked, then walked away back into the school. What did he want with Alex?! He could be friends with the three new boys if he wanted! Why did he look at him?!

The crowd cleared and the three boys started to walk away, excitedly chatting to each other about their new school life. Alex saw a young boy go up to them and whisper in their ears. The boys looked at Alex then back at the boy. Alex saw the blue one shake his head, then look at Alex again. Alex decided to stare back, and then started walking away.

Not a second had gone since he did that when he realized the blue hedgehog was right behind him.

"Hey, little buddy, you know that boy over there was saying things about you?"

Alex sniffed and replied back to the blue hedgehog:

"What about?"

The hedgehog chuckled, and seemed to not care to much about the next thing he said.

"He said that he heard you say that you would never like to be our friend because we look like pure idiots."

Alex laughed at them words, but then let his face fall serious.

"I never said that, but maybe that is because you are one."

Alex loved how the hedgehogs face grew shocked, and then cherished how his jaw literally fell open. Alex knew that the hedgehog in his old school was probably well respected, and that his attitude towards him must have been shocking. Well, it should be good for him.

"I… I don't know what to say and all… I mean, I was going to ask if you wanted to be friends-"

"Ha! Be friends with _you_? You only just came here! And I don't like newcomers. They are always horrible and mean. I hate them, and that means I hate you!"

The blue hedgehogs face was going purple.

"Well. Well. If that is what you think," The hedgehog stepped closer towards Alex, and suddenly he regretted being rude to him. He held his breathe and waited to get seriously hurt.

Alex let out a small sigh of relief as the hedgehog backed away and raced back to his mates.

"Sonic! What just happened?" Alex snarled as the golden fox opened his mouth in surprise. He could just hear the hedgehog, or Sonic, speaking, but couldn't make out what he was saying. He watched as Sonic threw his thumb back to point at Alex, and he smirked and waved at them when the fox and the echidna looked at him. Their faces looked disgusted and they all started muttering to each other. Alex watched as they all walked away from him and quietly whispered to each other about Alex.

He chuckled and walked away. What else could they do besides chattering about him?


	8. Angrier By the Day

Alex got to school that morning feeling happy and free. He had been so bad he felt as if he had simply been thrown down into hell and told to haunt the world as a devil. He had no worries for the day, and didn't have a care in the world. It seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

Even though he had been thinking about the three new boys, he simply didn't feel as if there was any threat that could face him that day and that he was completely safe.

He had been relieved to get out of the car, like he was every day. He did not want to go in for lessons, but that was just his everyday feeling. He was used to it.

He walked through the school gates and the first people he saw were Sonic and his friends, surrounded in a crowd of people. He grinned as the fox turned around and spotted him, then tapped his finger on Sonic's back and pointed at him. Sonic nudged the echidna and started striding towards Alex, the two others following.

"Yo, Alex, still got your attitude on ya?"

Alex smirked at the hedgehog.

Sonic stopped as he reached Alex, and as he was taller than him, he was able to loom over him.

"I don't like the way you spoke to me the other day buddy, in fact, Tails and Knuckles didn't like it either."

Alex laughed while saying back to them,

"Yeah, and I have something to say to you about that."

Sonic seemed to act more relaxed, as Alex carried on:

"I'm sorry. I am really, really sorry. I am really, really sorry at how you think you're so cool, and that you can just come up to me and say all this. 'Cause I don't like that."

Alex laughed in his head at the shock on all three of their faces.

"Why you little-"

Alex ducked as a spiked fist was thrown at his face, then gagged as another slammed into his stomach. He looked up to see that Knuckles had attacked first, and Sonic had made the second hit. He watched as the fume on their faces burned, and stared for a moment before a girl caught his eye.

It was Jem.

He watched as she came closer, then came up to Sonic and stroked his cheek.

"Traitor…" Alex whispered under his breath as she spoke softly to Sonic:

"Calm down, baby, its fine, you go off now, I will sort it out over here."

She gave him a gentle yet stubborn look, and he quickly obeyed, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and giving Alex a last death glare. He grabbed Tails and Knuckles and sped off so fast Alex felt dizzy just by seeing it.

"So, where was I?"

Alex's attention turned back to Jem, and managed to stutter out a small shocked sentence.

"He is your… boyfriend?!"

She gave a small laugh and bent down to look him straight in the eye.

"Yes."

Alex looked down, still holding his stomach. He thought about when he first met Sonic, and the small boy who went to him to tell him the lie, and he thought about what the small boy looked like. He looked at his red fur, black hair, and lab clothing.

It was Spark who told Sonic that lie!

He accidently let out a small growl.

He received a nasty slap to his cheek, and an angry feminine face looking at him.

"Why are you growling at me?!" She demanded.

"I wasn't growling at you! It's just…" He trailed off feeling like a pure idiot.

"One of my friends told a lie to Sonic about me… and I just feel…"

He tried to get up, now holding his stomach and his cheek, but found that his stomach didn't want to hold him up, and fell down to the ground, now lying there instead of kneeling.

He turned his head to the side and saw Sonic looking at him from across the playground, smirking at his helplessness, but Alex felt triumph as his face fell, seeing that Jem had sat down next to Alex.

He looked her in the eye, and she actually smiled at him. She smiled. Something he did not expect at all.

"Here," Alex shook back to the present as Jem dug deep into a pocket on her ¾ lengths and drew out her hand. She opened it, and Alex saw four sweets, the same sweets in the headmasters office.

"Have one," She offered.

Alex took a sweet and slowly unwrapped it, after hesitating for a moment.

He paused what he was doing.

"You got these from the headmaster, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Alex still remembered the first time he had ever met Jem. They had had an argument. That was fun, but somehow he now wished it had never happened.

He carried on unwrapping the sweet and placed it between his teeth before letting it slide into his mouth. Jem giggled, and put her hand out to him.

"You need to go to the medical room. I'll take you there if you like?"

It was an offer Alex could not say no to. He struggled to get up, and with Jem's help, he stood on his feet. He limped over to the school, just as the bell went.

"Oh dear, we are going to be late."

"Let me go by myself, I'm used to getting into trouble."

"No, you silly," she laughed, "You don't even know where it is!"

That was true, and Alex gave in, knowing that he had to be cautious of her, not wanting to break their friendship.

He gasped as a blue wave went right past him, and realized Sonic had just dashed by. He glared at Tails and Knuckles, who stared threateningly back. They all walked (and limped) into the school and Jem started leading him down an opposite corridor to everyone else. They went quite far before coming to a door which Jem quickly rapped her knuckle on. Alex suddenly remembered that the teacher that helps them will probably ask what happened. He had a quick rush of nervousness, and was about to mention it when a teacher opened the door.

The teacher was a Leopard, and he suddenly remembered Diva telling him about her aunt who worked at the school. This could not be good.

"Miss. Wickette, are you a first aider?"

"Why yes, I am dearie, what's your problem?"

Alex was shocked at her gentle kindness. Was this really Diva's aunt?

He looked at Jem, who looked at him expectantly. He stared at her hard, then looked to the floor. Jem sighed and turned to Miss. Wickette.

"He fell over outside, miss. He banged into the ground quite hard and now he feels as if he has been _punched _in his stomach."

She looked at Alex as she said 'punched' and humour bounced in her eyes.

Alex looked up at Miss. Wickette and she looked at him, and smiled.

"Well, you had better come in then. We don't want a young boy hurt all day long, now do we?" She ushered him inside the medical room, then said to Jem,

"You need to go to class now dearie, I don't want you to miss your lessons, and I don't think your teachers want you to miss them either!"

Jem grinned and nodded, then walked away after sending Alex a quick wink. Miss. Wickette closed the door and turned back around to look at Alex.

He gulped.

She smiled at him, then walked across the room to a cabinet. She opened it, fumbled around inside, and then pulled out a small bottle. She closed the cabinet and walked over to where Alex was sitting, and sat down next to him. She showed him the medicine bottle, which read: 'Use when suffering pain anywhere in the body'.

"Now," she said gently. "Do you really need this?"

Alex looked down and shrugged his shoulders.

She chuckled and put it down on the small table in front of the chairs they were sitting on.

"So, tell me what _really _happened?"

Alex's heart started beating fast.

"What… what do you mean?"

She grinned and started observing her nails. "I mean I know your girlfriend was telling whopping great lies."

Alex immediately opened his mouth to protest. But nothing came out.

'Go on!' he spoke inside his head. 'Tell her she isn't your girlfriend!'

But his mouth seemed to have a mind of his own, and as it spoke, he gasped inside:

"My girlfriend doesn't lie!"

_She's not my girlfriend!_

Miss. Wickette just giggled.

"I mean," Alex straightened up, "She doesn't need to lie."

He had tried to sound truthful, but Miss. Wickette wasn't buying it.

"Alright then. But how did you get hurt? I know you didn't fall over."

"Well…" How did he put this?

"I kind of… got in a fight?"

Yes. Good work, Alex. Why didn't you just lie? You're good at that stuff!

Miss. Wickette didn't look surprised.

"And with who?"

"Sonic, Tails and Knuckles…" Alex mumbled.

"No!" Was the awaiting reply. "Tell that's not true!"

Alex tried to look up, but couldn't quite lift his suddenly-so-heavy head. Instead, he stared at the floor, his hands shaking.

"Alex… Alex, you need to be more careful than that! Before they came to this school the headmaster was warned about how bad they were!"

'Well I don't care…' Alex thought to himself.

"Which one hit you? Was it Knuckles? This is gonna sound bad, but please tell me it wasn't? "

"No, he hit first, but he missed, then Sonic hit me…" It sounded so weak saying that. Alex clenched his fists.

"Oh, ALEX!" There was silence for a moment, then she spoke up again, her voice dry.

"You need to go to class. You're late."

'I was late from when I first came in here!'

"Bye…" He muttered. Miss. Wickette repeated it.

He walked out the door, and stopped. How much trouble would he be in when he entered the classroom? He knocked the thought out of his head. Why was he thinking of that? He was so used to getting into trouble that the thought came as quite a surprise.

He trudged down the hall and along the corridor to where his classroom was. He laid his hand on the door handle and slowly, quietly, opened it. He tried to sneak in, but Sonic was in there, so he couldn't help but feel as if he had to act like a bad man. He walked through the door normally, and went over to his table as if he didn't care.

He couldn't escape Mrs. Blouer though. Not with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in the room.

"Miss!" Alex cringed when he heard Sonic's voice.

"Mrs. Blouer!"

She turned around and asked what Sonic needed.

"Alex just walked into the classroom, Miss, he's late!"

Alex felt the sudden urge to strangle Sonic, his hands clenching up as if Sonic's throat was jammed in between them.

"Well, Alex? What is your defence? I see you have not been marked down on the register, so I assume the claim is true?"

Mrs, Blouer was one of the teachers who tell you off softly, then shout at you.

"Sure."

"So you have no defence?"

Jeez, she's treating it as if the classroom was a freaking COURTROOM for heaven's sake!

"No, Miss." WAIT, yes I do!

"Actually, Miss-"

"NO!" She had reached her shouting stage.

"In at Lunchtime, I will tell you what to do then!"

"But, Miss…" An unexpected voice spoke up. Alex looked around him and saw that Tails had his hand slightly in the air. Tails looked at Alex and blushed. Then he turned to Mrs. Blouer.

"He was in the medical room, Miss, it wasn't his fault…" Alex saw Sonic nudge him with a confused look on his face, and Knuckles folded his arms, looking irritated.

"Tails, for disrupting me when I am talking to_ ALEX_, you will too be in at Lunchtime."

There was a moment of silence.

"UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes, Miss!" Tails said quickly.

Then it clicked.

Alex knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

He was NOT going to fall for THAT.

Tails was going to try and get information out of him!


	9. Known About Adoption

_I will not be late for class anymore, and I will always show more respect to the teacher than I did today._

That was just mean. I have to write that sentence out 100 times in the 1 hour that we have for lunch, and if I don't manage that…

"I want to know why, Alex, why didn't you manage to write down all of your lines, hmm?"

"I can't write that fast, Miss, I did try!"

"Nonsense! You were talking to Tails, weren't you? He didn't finish his either!"

Well that helped make him feel better.

"You will be doing them at the end of the School day, and we will send a note home to your parents."

"I don't have a home, Miss…" He said quietly.

Okay. It was true that he had a _building_ to live in, but it wasn't necessarily his _home._

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot, Alex, I will send a note to the Adoption Centre then."

Silence.

Alex heard a muffled giggle. He didn't even have to look to know it was Sonic.

"Yes, Miss." He turned away from Mrs. Blouer and went to his table. He sat down, straining his ears to listen to Sonic's conversation.

"Get him back… Speech… Tomorrow break-time…"

Oh NO! Sonic was going to tell everyone he was adopted! He couldn't… not even SONIC could be that spiteful… could he?

He had to find some way of keeping him shut up.

WITHOUT giving himself up to him.

Hang on… what was he thinking? He didn't care if Sonic was going to tell everyone. Sonic can do whatever he likes, but it wouldn't bother him.

It wouldn't bother him at all.

But when Alex got home, he started having doubts. He became more twitchy, and his eyes kept flicking to the clock.

_Tick tock tick tock tick tock._

Tomorrow was getting closer, and Alex was not looking forward to the shame that was going to enfold him when he walked through those school gates. He imagined everyone laughing at him, jeering at him, calling him names and bullying him- but most of all, he imagined the look on Jem's face when she realizes that she had been talking to an unwanted orphan. Alex had never known anyone else who was adopted, except from the people at his adoption center now. He thought about how he was always spiteful to them, and how similar the people at school were going to treat him the next day, and made a mental note to be nicer to his fellow orphans.

At the same time, he felt angry at how it was a bad thing to be in an adoption center? It wasn't his fault! Stupid Sonic. It wasn't Alex's fault Sonic was just a mean bully. Yes, Alex had been rude to him. Yes, Alex had provoked him. No, Alex had not made him act like a spoilt prat. That was SONIC.

He sighed and fiddled with his fingers, watching Manu and Waco play with the 5 lego pieces that had survived for so long at the center. He began to amuse himself by thinking of nasty names for them both, but then remembered his mental note about being nice to them. He walked over to them both, and sat down next to them. There was a silence while they stared at him, waiting for him to come out with a string of insults.

"Hey."

Alex waited while Manu and Waco stared at each other in confusion. Then they looked back at him.

"Hi?" Waco attempted, still talking in his lisp.

Searching his mind for something to say, Alex forced a smile at them both. They smiled back, hope beaming on their faces. They seemed delighted to be talking to him without being upset, which was quite a large understatement of how much Alex used to be horrible to them.

The awkwardness seemed to crackle in the air.

"Would you mind if I… if I…. uhh.."

"Play with us?" Manu finished Alex's sentence. "Hey, these lego bricks are for all of us, we don't mind if you join."

"Well, um, thanks…" Alex gingerly picked up one of the lego pieces. He looked at the other 4, which had been put together already. Hesitantly, he picked the block up. As if to ask for permission, he looked up at Manu, who surprisingly wasn't picking his nose. Manu nodded.

"Go on," He looked at Alex calmly. "I don't own them. None of us do. We don't care what you do with them."

Alex felt awkward. He wasn't even sure what you did with lego. All he knew is that you put them together to make things. He studied it for a second, then lifted the block and the single piece and with a _click_, he put them together.

He wasn't sure why, seeing as lego pieces were just toys, but the noise that it made when you put them together seemed so satisfying. Fascinated, he took the piece off again, then put it back together, then he took it off again, and put it back together. With a string of _click click click clicks _he found that he had taken all 5 pieces apart and put them back together again to make a mini aeroplane. He had become addicted to pulling them apart and making new things and listening to the clicks that he had forgotten that Manu and Waco were watching him, their faces full of curious interest. Suddenly Alex sensed their stares, and alarmed, he dropped the lego and looked up at them.

The moment seemed to last for hours.

"I err… I'm sorry about hogging them for so long…" Alex stammered out. How long had it been? It could have been a matter of a few seconds, a few minutes, or for all he knew, it could have been for a whole hour!

"Don't worry, I am guessing you have never played with lego before?" Waco asked.

Overflowing with embarrassment, Alex tried to stutter something out, not sure what he was even saying, when he was saved by Mrs. Cashe.

"Boys! Come down here, I need you to meet someone!"

Scrambling to his feet, Alex led the way down the stairs, sliding down the banister.

"Alex!" Mrs. Cashe scolded, "Stop being so silly at once!" Although after she said that she gave him an affectionate kiss on the top of his head and a gentle ruffle of his ginger hair. Alex would usually flinch away but for some reason he felt as if he wanted to just snuggle up to her. Instead, she moved from him and walked over to the figure that Alex hadn't yet noticed. He heard a gasp, and looked up.

"Boys, I would like you to meet a new member of our family. Now she is the only girl here and I would like you to all be very nice and welcoming to her!"

Alex shuffled impatiently, wanting to see who the new kid was. This was his chance to make a fresh start with someone, without them knowing how awful he could be when we wanted to!

Mrs. Cashe bent over for a second, as if to whisper in the girl's ear, then moved out of the way and put her arm around the girl's shoulders. Now it was Alex's turn to gasp when he realised who it was who was staring right at him.

It was Jem!

"What the-"

"Do you have something you want to say, Alex?" Mrs. Cashe demanded, narrowing her eyes at him. Alex just stared at Jem, mouth gaping open, wondering if he had been playing with the lego so long that he had had nothing to eat, and had fainted, and that this was just a dream.

"I thought not. And would you stop staring at poor Jem like that, it is extremely bad manners!"

Alex closed his mouth, but didn't stop staring at Jem. She stared right back, eyes wide.

"Well then!" Manu said. "Do you want to come and see upstairs, um, uh…"

"Jem," Mrs. Cashe offered, "if you didn't hear a minute ago." She smiled warmly at Manu.

Manu straightened up.

"Jem! That's a nice name!" he started, then immediately blushed.

"So, do you want to come upstairs?" Waco asked.

"Oh, not right now boys! I know you're all excited, but it's time for dinner if it is time for anything!"

"Yay!" Waco danced into the kitchen, Carlo (saying nothing as usual) and Manu close behind, along with all the other boys that stuck together and never talked to anyone else. Alex slowly followed, his mind on everything but dinner. Instead, he was trying not to die in embarrassment. Out of anyone, ANYONE in the world, how could JEM become an orphan? At the same adoption house as him? It HAD to be planned. Sonic must have told her to do it! Well he'll soon show them.

After eating a rather big dinner of bangers and mash, they were treated to a huge chocolate fudge cake to celebrate having a new 'ball in our pool table'. Alex topped his with extra fresh whipped cream to try and cheer himself up. It was all in vain. He had worked out that it was all on purpose and it was all a plan, but how did Sonic know which adoption centre he was in? It was all too much for him to cope with at the minute, but he had no choice.

He quickly ate the cake and raced upstairs before Jem did. Making his way back to the few pieces of lego, he tried to get back into the satisfactory faze that he was in before, but it just didn't work. He was trapped in the nightmare that clung onto him with bloodied claws, refusing to let go, forcing him into such a state that he felt weak and empty. After so long, the anger that had been waiting inside of him began to spill out. His pupils widened and his fur bristled. His hands shook and his heart pumped with adrenaline. His mouth opened wide, and with a feeling of power, he let his voice burst from his pipes, and screamed out his feelings, the pressure in his ears unbearable.

"_I HATE YOU GOD! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THE LIFE OF HATE I HAVE?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE MUM? _Why do you hate me?!" His last few words were spoken weakly. Falling to his knees, he suddenly realized that he was not the only one in the room.

Jem was standing by the door.

**Hey! I've gotten to the end of all the chapters that have already been done, and know I actually have to start writing again! I nearly lost the last chapter yesterday due to my computer restarting without me knowing it was gonna do that, but luckily it recovered. I was so glad because I had written another 1000 words!**

**Come on guys! So many views, and yet no reviews! I need to know how it's going! However I'd review nearer to the end, maybe, Chapters 7, 8 and 9? They are the ones I've done recently, not a few years back. So come on! REVIEW :D**


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